What is the role of migration in people’s livelihoods around the world? How can migration be understood as a social process? This UK Department for International Development working paper is the outcome of a workshop organised by the Institute of Development Studies’ Poverty Research Unit in 1998. It argues that more attention needs to be given to the positive aspects of migration.
It is important to understand the complexity and diversity of migration. Although the majority of migrants are probably young men, there are large variations between different regions and periods of time. Gender is the most important form of social differentiation that influences migration, but not the only one, and migration is usually strongly segmented. This may lead to unequal access to opportunities.
There are three main issues in understanding links between migration and poverty: (1) Causality: Are migrants richer because they have migrated, or do they migrate because they are better off? (2) The poorest have most need to improve their income, but are less able to migrate (3) Access to opportunities is central for the composition of migration streams in terms of socio-economic differentiation, and who profits from migration.
It is best to understand migration as a strategy adopted by individuals, households or communities to enhance livelihoods. Migration is also part of social networks, is determined by social structures and contributes to changing social structures.
- The contribution of migration to reducing poverty is complex. Migrants often help increase welfare at their destination, but effects on areas of origin are less clear for a number of reasons.
- Migrants do not just migrate for material gains, but also for education and to gain new skills and ‘social capital’, although these gains will be distributed unequally.
- From the perspectives of migrants, migration has the function of reducing vulnerability.
- Migration is often seen as contributing to declining social structures, but many studies now stress that this need not be so. Migration is part of social networks, and is usually consistent with communities’ values and norms, and is especially influenced by the type of household form.
- Migration can both reinforce ‘traditional’ norms and establish new practices, and migrants may transform societies both at home and in the host community. Migration can be socially embedded in many different ways, and the effects on social structures vary greatly.
Policies should aim to support migration, and more importance should be attached to possible negative implications of policies.
- Policy makers often see migration as undesirable and threatening. However, policies should be based on a recognition of the centrality of migration to livelihood strategies, rather than assuming that people are sedentary.
- Policies should seek to support migration rather than aiming to reduce it. However, this should not always be so, as some forms of migration are exploitative. It is necessary to distinguish these instances from those which support livelihoods.
- Provision of opportunities at home may reduce migration by providing alternatives. However, development does not reduce migration, it merely changes its composition.
- Denial of rights to migrants – such as of free circulation, obtaining asylum and being accompanied by family members – limits them in building their own livelihoods.
- Design of support to migrants’ livelihoods could depart from an understanding of the informal networks that structure migration, and build on them. Policies should focus on enabling migrants to build up their own livelihoods and express their own identities.
